Gifted
by DyMonda
Summary: This will eventually be a crossover with XMen. I'm hoping anyway. TinTin has been having trouble with her abilities ever since the incident with The Hood. The rating on this may go up but I'm not sure yet! Enjoy!
1. Default Chapter

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Thunderbirds the TV series or the Thunderbirds movie**_

_**or X-Men in anyway .**_

GIFTED 

I'm back so beware. I know I haven't finished my first story but this is just a little tale I started in the wake of seeing the movie so I hope you like it.

This story is going to be a crossover but it will take a little time to get there. I'll do my best not to keep you all in suspense for too long.

This story is set after the movie and will be a crossover with X-Men.

Hey, I bet you didn't see that one coming though I'm not quite sure if this will work! ;-)

**Chapter 1 – Home Coming.**

A year. It had been a year since Alan, Fermat and TinTin had found themselves all but alone on the paradise island in the south pacific and being hunted by a lunatic with a grudge and his henchmen. They had prevailed and saved countless lives by the skin of their teeth thanks to their superior knowledge of the island and some really stupid stunts masterminded by the one and only Alan Tracy.

Now it was that time of year again on Tracy Island. Spring Break! Alan and Fermat were due home from their boarding school in Massachusetts. The Tracy family were getting ready to give them a warm welcome home party as they had seen little action on the rescue front for the past two weeks and were looking forward to actually being able to celebrate the youngsters return.

Jeff Tracy had arranged for the two of them to take the bus to the nearby airstrip where, thanks to being the boss of his very own (and very big) company he had a small jet standing by to bring them home. The party was going to be a surprise one so the longer they took in getting to the island the more time the rest of the inhabitants had to get everything ready.

The whole island was buzzing with excitement. It wasn't often they had the chance to have a party so they were making the most of it by going overboard on practically everything.

The Tracy boys (minus the 'eye in the sky') were busy decorating the main house to the hilt with streamers, banners and party balloons. Unfortunately the balloons came with their own Helium tank, which meant the house was slowly filling with balloons and boisterous boys with squeaky voices.

Lady Penelope had arrived earlier that morning and was in the process of trying to restore order to the balloon blowing without much success while Parker wisely stayed out of it in favour of polishing the car, which was being temporarily housed in the Thunderbird silos.

Even Kyrano and his wife were excited as Kyrano hadn't stopped buzzing around the gardens trying to make everything look perfect and his wife hadn't stopped fussing over the dinner that she had been planning for nearly two weeks.

Instead of a full blown dinner she had eventually settled on a buffet style meal when she realized that it was unlikely that anyone would feel like having a sensible sit down dinner in the middle of a Tracy party.

Already the dining table was stacked with hamburgers, chicken, curly fries, chips, cakes, salad and fruits of different varieties and yet she was still in the process of preparing more even though the table threaten to buckle under the weight.

Luckily the drinks had been assigned to a side table, which had been moved to sit next to the dining table.

Yes, everyone was in a festive spirit. Except for one person.

TinTin had spent almost the entire day in her room only coming out for breakfast and lunch. No-one had missed her. They rarely did for which she was grateful. Although TinTin was taught at home she too was now on spring break but she didn't feel like celebrating.

TinTin sat on her bed looking out of her bedroom window at the beautiful island she had come to call home and thought of the family she had come to know as an extension of her own.

She loved them all and didn't want anything to jeopardize them or the wonderful work they did in the world so she couldn't help but wonder. 'Am I a danger to them?'

Before last year she hadn't even considered it as an issue. She hadn't even told her parents about her abilities even though she had discovered them when she was thirteen.

But now the doubts and concerns from the previous year had multiplied and now she had begun to panic about what to do.

Alan and Fermat had found out about her powers last spring break from the unfortunate incident with the scorpion but they had both agreed before going back school not to tell anyone else for TinTin's sake so she wasn't worried about that.

What she was worried about was that The Hood had not only discovered her powers by unknowingly forcing her to use them but that he had also discovered that her powers were much stronger than his own and this scared her, especially since The Hood now knew the exact location of the island.

Jeff Tracy luckily hadn't noticed her psychic intervention in the Bank Of London, only her entrance. 'Probably because he was too worried about Alan to notice, or care.' She thought quietly.

Either way the floodgates had been opened and now no matter how hard she tried she couldn't ignore her powers any longer. Whenever she bumped into someone she would hear stray thoughts that she tried to block but failed every time.

Even in sleep she found herself drifting into dreams that were not her own and that disturbed her the most. For TinTin the most private thing to a person was their inner most thoughts and feelings and whenever it happened she felt like a trespasser despite her best efforts to control it.

Because of this she hadn't even attempted to use her telekinetic abilities for fear the damage she could do.

She found herself watching every step, every touch, even her conversations because she would end up listening to peoples thoughts instead of their words. So it was of little surprise that she began to appear distant to the rest of the islands inhabitants.

So far she had managed to brush the accusation off with the cover story that she just missed Alan and Fermat but that cover would soon be blown.

'Man, I need to think of something!' TinTin thought frustrated.

'Why are you even hiding?' came the sometimes, irritating voice of reason from the back of her mind.

'Why? WHY?! Because I don't want the Tracy family to hate me for having the same powers as that……..that……..that manciac!' the irrational part of her mind screamed back.

'But you're nothing like him and Alan and Fermat don't hold your abilities against you.' Replied the sensible voice.

'But Alan and Fermat don't understand what my abilities mean! I can't even control them and they're a part of me!' she argued.

'Maybe not, but either way it makes no difference because no matter how hard you try there is nothing you can do about that!' the rational voice finished coolly and TinTin heaved a long held back sigh as she realised the voice was right.

She couldn't change what she was but she fear rejection more than anything and she felt that a bombshell this big in paradise would leave everlasting scars and change the landscape of the people in it forever.

So heaving another weary sigh TinTin hopped off her bed and made her way the closet.

"I hope it's still in here." She whispered as she opened the closet and began digging through its contents.

After a few minutes of climbing up shelves and rummaging through the mess that was now on the floor TinTin found what she'd been looking for.

She held out a very dusty and rather tatty looking black rucksack and after giving it a few good shakes to get most of the dust and spiders out she unzipped it and laid it out open on the bed.

The rucksack was her father's and had traveled all over the world with him. He had once told TinTin that the bag brought him luck so had given it his daughter hoping it would do the same for her.

'Well dad, we're about to find out.' She thought with a sad smile.

She knew that things would eventually work out this way ever since she had first discovered her abilities but had still denied it until this moment.

TBC Please review and let me know what you think. I promise to upload the next chapter as soon as possible. 


	2. Chapter 2 Balloons

_**Disclaimer: I don't own the TV series of Thunderbirds or the movie of Thunderbirds or X-Men in anyway.**_

GIFTED OK. New chapter. Let me know what you think. 

**Chapter 2 – Balloons.**

"Alright boys that's enough." Jeff said sternly but with good humor.

How could he not laugh when there were blown up balloons all over the floor, Gordon laughing in an unnaturally high voice thanks to the Helium filled balloon in his hand and Lady Penelope doing her best to give him a serious telling off when Scott and Virgil were standing right behind her rubbing balloons against their t-shirts and holding them over her head trying to make her hair stand up.

"Come on that's enough, Alan and Fermat will be home soon." He repeated more seriously this time and Scott and Virgil relinquished their static hold on Penelope's hair leaving her to walk off in search of her straighteners.

Virgil watched her leave with a raised eyebrow.

"Wow! Do you think it was something we did?" He whispered as he and Scott went back to pinning the balloons to the ceiling like they were supposed to be doing before they were distracted.

Scott just had time to smile at Virgil's statement before he was hit in the back of the head by what he turned around to discover was a stray red balloon.

Looking up he spotted the perpetrator immediately as his hands were now empty.

Scott glared at his little brother in mock annoyance while Gordon just grinned smugly before darting out of the lounge and down the nearest hallway, Scott hot on his heels and swearing vengeance.

Virgil smiled shaking his head and turned back to the ceiling while his father sighed heavily, picked up the nearest balloon and climbed the stepladder next to him.

'If you want something done right, do it yourself.' Virgil thought and his smile widened.

With no more distractions Jeff and Virgil pinned the last of the balloons into place.

"Perfect." Jeff uttered quietly though Virgil still heard it.

Virgil knew how important this party was to his father.

Being stuck on Thunderbird 5 while that madman was loose on the island they had all been worried about those they'd left behind, the kids in particular.

Yet it had been those same supposedly helpless teenagers that had saved the day as well as all their lives and no-one was more proud of those kids that day than Jeff Tracy.

Still smiling Virgil started clearing away the remaining balloons and the Helium tank while Jeff made his way over to the kitchen.

"How are the gardens looking?" he asked Kyrano who had just come in from outside.

"Everything is perfect Mr Tracy, I even had time to put up the lanterns around the pool." Kyrano replied smiling at his wife who was putting the finishing touches to the dining table.

"I hope nobody complains about being hungry later on." She said in mock irritation as she managed to fit the final plate onto the table with some difficulty. Taking a step back she admired her work briefly before attacking the drinks table with the same level of determination and within no time at all the side table was packed with bottles of juice and soda, bowls of punch and an array of multi-coloured plastic cups and glasses.

Kyrano just rolled his eyes at his wife and went to get himself cleaned up.

Jeff smiled fondly at the pair. It was at times like this that he missed his own wife though he knew she would probably be worse than Kyrano's wife when it came to this party. Remembering the numerous birthday parties they'd held for their sons before the accident she had gotten organizing parties down to a fine art. Well, when you have five birthdays to celebrate, not including your own in a year you tend to get very efficient at surprise parties.

"Mr Tracy? Are you alright?" asked Kyrano's wife as she noticed the faraway look on his face.

Shaking himself from the memories Jeff turned to her and smiled.

"Sorry about that. I was just remembering something, guess I got a little caught up."

She seemed satisfied with that answer and returned the smile.

"Well don't get too caught up. Like you said Alan and Fermat will be home soon so you had better go get ready." She ordered with a touch of humour and a warm smile.

Jeff laughed. "Yes mother." He replied jokingly and walked off in the same direction that Kyrano had gone.

Virgil who had finished packing away all the unused balloons was now in the process of picking up the odd streamers that had fallen on the floor.

"I'll do that. You go and get ready." Kyrano's wife said firmly.

"Are you sure?" Virgil asked looking up at her from his position on the floor where he was trying to reach part of a streamer that had made its way under one of the sofas.

"Yes, yes now go on, off with you and if you see those brothers of yours be sure you tell them to get ready as well." She commanded while shooing Virgil towards the door.

Virgil put is hands up in mock surrender. "Ok, ok I'm going." He conceded walking out of the lounge.

Just then Gordon came running into the room from a different corridor. Scott had just given up chasing him but he wasn't going to stop until he'd put some distance between him and his older brother and now he was back in the lounge where he started. Gasping for breath he glanced around the room.

"Where'd everybody go?" he asked in exasperation.

Kyrano's wife just cast her eyes heavenward and sighed. Although she loved them all very much she couldn't help but wonder whether the Tracy family were sometimes a little nuts.

TBC 

_There you have it another chapter. Sorry if it seems like a bit of a time waster but I'm trying to think of how to approach the next few chapters. At least it has humour. _


	3. Chapter 3 Hello, Goodbye

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Thunderbirds or X-Men in any way, shape or form.**_

**GIFTED******

_OK. Here's another one._

_I would like to thank Cap'n Phoenix for the review. I must confess that I didn't know the name of Kyrano's wife (just goes to show how much I was paying attention while watching the movie and I never sat through the credits). Sorry._

_Anyway thanks for the tip and I'll be sure to call her Onaha from now on or wherever it is appropriate._

_CHEERS!_

**Chapter 3 – Hello, Goodbye.**

"I've just re…r….reci….re gotten word from the jet Mr Tracy they're coming into land now." Stuttered Brains as he came strolling into lounge already dressed for the party.

Jeff Tracy looked up from the magazine he was reading and smiled.

"Good. Are the boys ready yet?"

Brains frowned. "I haven't se…s…..see spotted them Mr Tracy. But I'm sure they'll be here any min….mi….mi time now."

Jeff sighed wearily but as if on cue the young men in question came walking into the room in seemingly deep conversation.

"You've gotta admit it WAS funny." Gordon boasted somewhat loudly.

"Yeah, but did you have to tease her about it afterwards?" Virgil asked seriously.

"Bahh, you've got no sense of humour that's your problem." Replied Gordon. He was annoyed that Virgil couldn't see the funny side of the whole Helium filled balloon incident with Penelope even though he himself was involved. But what Virgil was trying to get across to his younger sibling was that it wasn't the incident itself that he found

un-amusing but rather that Gordon kept teasing Penelope about it whenever he saw her. Further more Virgil seemed to recall Penelope holding her own level of power so perhaps pissing her off was not a good idea.

"It's about time you got down here." Jeff said standing to greet his sons.

They had the good grace to look embarrassed and offered their apologies as everyone else entered the room clean and dressed for the party. But there was still someone missing.

"Where's TinTin got to?" asked Penelope looking around the room but seeing no sign of the eastern teenager.

"I think she's still in her room. I'll get her." Replied Kyrano as he went to fetch his daughter.

It had only taken TinTin half an hour to pack what she needed into the battered black rucksack the rest of the time she had spent sat at her dressing table staring at her reflection in the oval vanity mirror and going through the number of photographs and memories she kept in the draws of the dressing table.

She had stopped at one photo in particular, a picture she kept very close to her heart. It was a photo of her, Alan and Fermat at the start of the New Year just before they went back to school after the Christmas holidays. It was the last time she had seen them and looking at the photo she couldn't help be realize how much she would miss them.

TinTin was startled out of the memory by a knock at the door.

"TinTin? Sweetheart, are you going to come down to the party?" came a voice through the door and TinTin realized it was her father and that the jet must have arrived with Alan and Fermat.

"Sure dad, I'll be down in a minute ok." She replied quickly and hoped that her father wasn't going to wait for her.

"Ok, but don't be long." Her father said and TinTin heard footsteps walking away down the hall and she let out the breath she'd been holding.

Looking back at the photo in her hands she thought hard about what she was about to do and with one last glance at her reflection she unclipped the International Rescue pin from her shirt and placed it on the dressing table.

"I'm sorry." She whispered to the empty room as she walked over to her bed and zipped up the bag tucking the photo into one of the many pockets before heading for the door.

The lights were off when Alan and Fermat entered the lounge and the whole house seemed eerily silent.

"Where is everyone?" Fermat wondered aloud as he and Alan dumped their suitcases on the floor before stepping further into the room.

"Maybe the power's out." Offered Alan although he knew the absurdity of the statement because Tracy Island had a number of back-up generators both for the house and the Thunderbird silos so the odds of a power failure were highly remote.

"Don't be silly Alan." Fermat said simply and stopped to listen for any sound coming from within the room.

"It could be Gordon playing a practical joke." Laughed Alan though it was a much better answer than his first one, just then, a sound caught their attention.

"Wh….w….who's there?" Fermat's stutter kicked in along with his nerves as he and Alan glanced around the darkened room trying to locate the source of the sound.

"SURPRISE!!!" shouted a chorus of familiar voices as someone flicked on the light switch. Alan and Fermat probably would have died from shock if they had all managed to shout at the same time.

As it was Gordon, unable to contain himself any longer finally put the youngsters out of their misery by being the first to jump out from his hiding place behind the orange sofa.

It still gave them a fright and everyone was laughing at their expressions, even TinTin.

"Was that a…abso…..ab really necessary?" breathed Fermat who had his hand on his chest in an attempt to slow his racing heartbeat.

Alan who was laughing as hard as the rest of the household clapped a hand on his friends shoulder

"Hey lighten up it wasn't that bad." Alan said good naturedly.

Fermat just glared at him, which only caused Alan to laugh harder but the glare melted away as soon as Fermat caught sight of a familiar and greatly missed individual.

"DAD!" prank forgotten Fermat ran straight into the waiting arms of his father.

"Welcome home guys." Pronounced Jeff as he grabbed Alan in a welcome hug, which was followed by the customary ruffling of hair from the three other Tracy's in the house.

"Great to have you back sprout." Welcomed Scott.

"Yeah welcome back squirt." Virgil seconded.

"Nice to see the pilot put up with ya and didn't throw you off the plane." Joked Gordon the comment earning him an unimpressed looked from his father and smack upside the head from Scott.

"Oww! What was that for?!" whined Gordon rubbing the back of his head.

Scott just rolled his eyes and muttered something under his breath that sound suspiciously like 'Idiot!' to Virgil.

Once all the greetings were out of the way Kyrano went to take their suitcases up to their rooms.

"Oh Mr Tracy the pilot said to tell you that he'll be ta….tak….t lifting off as soon as he's finished refueling the jet." Stuttered Fermat as he helped himself to a plate of food from the table.

"Thanks Fermat. I don't want him staying any longer than he needs to." Jeff replied as he too aimed for the food table while Alan bounded over to the stereo to put on some music.

From a nearby doorway TinTin watched the whole scene while her mind raced with what to do.

'OK. It should take about 20 minutes for the pilot to service the jet and make it ready for take off.' She summarised from the island having had similar small jets land there so she knew how much time she had to play with.

'I can't leave the party too soon in case they think something's wrong.' She frowned in concentration trying to plan out her escape.

'If I stay for one song I can excuse myself, head back to my room, grab my bag and drop down from the balcony onto the patio and slip round the back of the house down to the landing strip.' Her frown deepened. This plan was dangerous, not did she plan to drop from the second story of the house but she had to do it quietly and reach the landing strip in time and unseen however it was the only way to avoid being seen by anyone.

'Mission Impossible eat your heart out.' She thought sardonically and after running over the plan one last time she took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

'Showtime.' With that TinTin entered the lounge.

"There you are! We've been wondering where you'd gotten to." Announced Penelope turning immediately to greet her teenage friend.

TinTin smiled sheepishly as all eyes turned to her.

"Yeah sorry about that, guess I lost track of time." She answered truthfully as the music started to play in the background.

_. . . . . . . . So much for my happy ending._

'How appropriate.' TinTin thought sadly but she didn't care she had always liked Alan's taste in music.

"Hey TinTin! What ya been up to?" Alan greeted her enthusiastically having abandoned the stereo in favour of the food table, which was rapidly emptying thanks to his brothers.

"Oh you know school stuff, island life. Nothing new." Sadness started to creep into her voice and she focused on the floor in a desperate to hide it and hope Alan wouldn't notice.

Alan noticed.

He put his plate back down on table and turned to face TinTin fully.

"What is it TinTin? Has something happened?" Alan asked gently with genuine concern.

TinTin was studying her feet intently trying hard not to look up into the concerned blue eyes of her friend while her mind struggled to come to terms with what she was planning to do and for the briefest moment she considered telling Alan the truth. The truth that she was no longer able to cope with her powers that had continued to grow uncontrollably over the past year, that she was plagued by constant headaches and sometimes even migraines or that she would stray into other peoples dreams while sleeping and hear their every thought when awake.

No. The truth was that she was afraid of hurting the people she loved and she loved all the people on Tracy Island very much not just her parents. These people were her family and friends and she was a danger to them.

There had been too many close calls and accidents over the last year to ensure her of that and all because she didn't want to risk them finding out that she had the same 'powers' as her monster of an uncle The Hood.

'I'm nothing like 'Him'!' TinTin thought bitterly.

Even though she had no idea how the rest of the island's inhabitants would react to her powers apart from Alan and Fermat she simply could bare thought of rejection by her family.

With the choice made TinTin straightened up and squared her shoulders forcing a smile.

"No, nothing's happened. I'm just glad you're back." Her voice was stronger this time all traces of sadness gone.

This seemed to convince Alan and he smiled in return picking up his plate again.

"Hey, I'm glad to be back boarding school's the pits." He answered around a mouthful of fried chicken.

TinTin just rolled her eyes at Alan's table manners or lack thereof and stole a curly fry from his plate when he wasn't looking.

"Hey TinTin. How was your schooling?" Asked Fermat having finished his and ready to join the conversation.

TinTin couldn't help but smile. Trust Fermat to ask about school.

"It was good though I'm struggling a little with physics." She answered honestly and stole another fry though not as covertly as the first one.

"Hey!….." Alan protested but TinTin just grinned smugly at him.

"You should pay more at…a….atten notice to what your eating Alan." Fermat stated smiling at his friend's indignant expression.

They all laughed at that even Alan and continued chatting with the music still playing in the background. They talked about school, about life on the island and any rescues that had happened lately but it wasn't long before the last few bars of the song were heard from the stereo.

_And all this time you were pretending, so much for my happy ending . . . . . . . . . ._

Laughing from one of Alan's newest lame jokes TinTin suddenly grew somber as she realized it was the end of the song.

'This is it.' She thought suddenly feeling like she about to cry so she turned to stare at the food table in an effort to calm herself.

Noticing the eastern girl's sudden change in mood Alan grew concerned.

"TinTin? Are you ok?" He asked her gently.

Frowning when he got no reply he glanced at Fermat who was also looking at TinTin in concern.

Turning back to the seemingly upset teenage girl Alan reached out and lightly touched her shoulder to get her attention.

TinTin had been so wrapped up in her thoughts that she hadn't heard Alan's gentle question so she was startled when she felt the hand on her should and almost jumped in fright.

"TinTin? Are you ok?" Alan repeated the question.

Wiping her face on her sleeve she turned attention back to her friends and smiled sadly.

"You know what I think I can feel a headache coming on. Do you mind if I go lay down for a while?" There she did it. She lied.

"Of course not." Alan replied with a small smile but TinTin knew that in his mind he was still worried.

"I'll let you're pa…par….pare folks know where you're going." Fermat reassured her and went to inform TinTin's parents.

"Thanks Fermat!" She called before saying goodbye to Alan and promising to finish telling him about the behind the scenes action of all the rescues his brothers had been on in the past few months.

On the way to her room TinTin thought about Alan and Fermat. She hated this. Even though Fermat had offered it felt like she was using them to help conceal her escape from the island by them covering for her absence at the party.

Still there was nothing she could do about that now as she reached her room and entered locking the door behind her.

She didn't have much time.

Changing out of her party clothes she pulled on a pair of well worn stonewash jeans and a simple pale-gray t-shirt and trainers.

She walked over to the patio door that lead out onto the small balcony from her room and grabbing the tatty black rucksack en route carefully opened the door and stepped out onto the balcony.

Looking over the edge of the railing TinTin saw that it was about 10ft to the ground so being careful not to overbalance she swung the rucksack over the edge and let it drop to the ground. Luckily the ground below was covered in bushes and various flowers and TinTin hoped they would help cushion her fall as well as help cover any noise.

The rucksack hit the ground with a light thud and a slight rustle of leaves but other than that nothing else happened which meant that no one had heard it.

So taking a deep breath TinTin swung one leg over the railing then the other and carefully lowered herself until she was hanging from the railing by her hands in order to make the drop as short as possible. Then with one more controlling deep breath she let go of the railing and dropped to the ground.

She landed on her feet but fell back with the momentum of the fall and up on her back next to the rucksack.

Sitting up slowly she checked quickly for any injuries. Finding none she stumbled to her feet and brushed herself off before hoisting her rucksack and making her way behind the main house towards the landing strip.

TBC

_What do you think?_

_Review and let me know._

_The rest of TinTin's escape will be covered in the next chapter._

_The lines of the song in this chapter were from 'My Happy Ending' by Avril Lavigne (which is a song that I don't own and don't claim to own) and is a favorite of mine._


	4. Chapter 4 Happy Landings

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Thunderbirds or X-Men in any way, shape or form.**_

**GIFTED**  


_Another chapter. _

_This is the last one I will be able to post for a while as Uni beckons me back but I will be back around Easter hopefully with more chapters and maybe even another story. _

**Chapter 4 – Happy Landings.**

Reaching the landing strip without being seen had been easier than she had expected and the small private jet was still sitting there on the tarmac while its pilot was walking back to the small service hanger to put back the items he'd used to service the jet.

Seeing her chance and with her rucksack on her shoulder TinTin ran across the tarmac as quickly and as quietly as she could until reached the small plane's passenger door.

Opening it quietly she climbed up inside the plane and the closed the door just as quietly behind her.

With a quick glance around the inside of the jet TinTin found her hiding place and stashed her rucksack under the seat nearest the back of the plane before hiding herself in a storage locker that was about size of a small wardrobe at the back of the plane.

She was just in time as few seconds later the pilot returned and took his place in the cockpit of the plane.

Pressing her ear to the door TinTin could vaguely make out the sound of the pilot informing island control that he was about to take off before the low rumble as the plane taxied down the runway and then accelerated to lift-off speed.

TinTin suddenly felt tired as the rumble dimmed to just a whistle of the engines as the plane left the ground entirely.

So closing her eyes TinTin allowed the gentle noise of the engines to lull her into sleep while she tried not to think about what her friends and family would say when they discovered she was missing.

* * *

A gentle knock.

Followed by the sound of concerned voice.

"TinTin? Sweetheart, are you alright?" Kyrano had been worried when Fermat had told him about his daughter's headache. She had been getting them a lot lately.

When no reply came Kyrano couldn't suppress the sigh of slight exasperation he felt. TinTin hardly ever talked to them anymore preferring the sanctuary of her room to the company of her parents.

Deciding to let his daughter be for now he headed back down to the party.

* * *

Drifting back to the surface of consciousness with a small groan of disappointment TinTin blinked back to full awareness when she realized that the plane was silent indicating that it must have landed.

Her back ached terribly probably because she still in the same position that she had fallen asleep in. Crouched down in the bottom of a storage locker.

Opening the door slightly TinTin peered out into the cabin of the plane. The cockpit door was open and TinTin could see that the pilot was no longer there so she opened the door fully and stepped out and stretched wincing when cramped muscles protested.

Retrieving her bag from under the back seat she rubbed her eyes tiredly before making her way to the front of the plane.

When she reached the passenger door she carefully glance out the window to make sure there was no-one about before open in the door and slipping out of the plane.

She briefly noticed that she was at what appeared to be a small airstrip there were small planes both new and old as well as a few helicopters all grounded around a number of large hangers.

The passenger door closed with a small click behind her and she ran to the nearest hanger which was about fifty feet away.

Upon reaching it she took a moment to catch her breath and dumped her bag on the ground next to her while thought of what to do next.

She looked back at the jet and noticed from the writing on the side of the plane that it belonged to 'Pacific Blue Airways' which was a private hire jet company that was often used by Tracy Industries to ferry goods, documents and executives from place to place.

But more importantly it told TinTin where she was because she knew that this particular private airline was only based in San Francisco.

'I have to get out of here.' TinTin realized that this would be the first place they'd look her when they found she was no longer on the island.

She didn't have much money and any form of ticket would make her traceable but she had to start somewhere. She knew that a coach was probably her safest bet but at there plenty of time think that and that she actually knew where the coach station was in San Francisco. All she had to do know was figure out where she was in comparison.

Sighing heavily she shouldered her rucksack and set off in search of someone to ask as to where about in San Francisco she actually was.

TBC

_I know I haven't got to the crossover yet but I will I'll see how it goes. I might be able to upload more chapters before Easter but it will depend on whether I can get secure access to the Internet._

_Either way I hope to have this story nearly if not completely finished by the time I come so I can just upload all the chapters at once._

_Anyway, bye for and I'm glad Uni's almost over for me so I can spend more time writing and practicing with new ideas coz I've got loads that I just haven't found the time to put into writing._

_Please Review Away! ;-)_


	5. Chapter 5 Journey Begins

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Thunderbirds or X-Men in any way, shape or form.**_

GIFTED

_I've reloaded the previous chapter because of how bad it was. Sorry about that but I finished it in a bit of a hurry._

**Chapter 5 – Journey Begins.**

It had only taken TinTin an hour to find out how far away she was from the coach station and luck seemed to be on her side as the receptionist she'd asked offered to give her a lift there.

Once at the station it was simply a matter of deciding on where she wanted to go.

She paused at this. She hadn't really given any thought to where she wanted to go but realized that the further away was probably better incase anyone decided to come after her.

Mind made up she headed for the ticket office she bought a one-way ticket to New York City.

She chose NYC for two reasons. One: There would be lots of people there at this time of year most of them tourists so getting lost in the crowd would be easy. And two: No-one would look twice at a teenager with a rucksack in such a busy tourist spot, they would simply assume that she was visiting the city as well.

TinTin allowed herself a small smile. She suddenly realized why so many runaways are never found. It is just so easy to get lost if you know what you're doing.

The ticket agent told her that the entire journey would take about five days and that she should get anything she might need before leaving as the stops were few and far between.

She found a small pharmacy just outside next to the station where she picked up some toothpaste, having packed her toothbrush and a washcloth.

She also bought a spare pack of batteries for her CD player as well as a box of Granola bars and two bottles of water.

She stuffed her purchases into the black rucksack and ran back to the station just in time to board the coach for New York City.

Luckily her rucksack was small enough for her take onto the coach as hand luggage even though it was a challenge packing it into one of the overhead storage compartments.

With her bag stowed TinTin sank back into the seat she'd chosen near the back of the bus with the CD player in her hands.

Slowly the coach began to make its way out of the station and on to the road.

Loading one of her favourite CDs into the player TinTin placed the small headphones over her ears and leaned back trying to get comfortable. It would be seven hours before the coach made its first rest stop so the best thing she could do at the moment would be to try and get some rest.

Closing her eyes TinTin allowed her mind to drift along with the sound of the music and as the first few drops of rain hit the coach windows she drifted beyond the realm of consciousness.

Alan yawned as he entered the lounge the following morning.

The party had gone on until late and only ended when Jeff threatened to sideline him on all the rescues during Spring Break. His father hadn't meant it seriously and he had to admit that it was rather late.

So grudgingly everyone had filed off to bed Alan being the last one to settle down at 1am in the morning.

Walking over to the kitchen Alan poured himself a glass orange juice before sitting down at the table with his elbows resting on the table, holding the glass loosely between his hands.

"Hey squirt." Virgil greeted sitting across from Alan who was staring blankly at his glass of orange juice apparently deep in thought.

Frowning at the lack of response Virgil tried again.

"You're up late."

Still getting no response he reached across the table and swiped the glass of orange juice from the hands of his unresponsive younger brother and drank it all in one go before replacing the glass back in Alan's hands which hadn't moved from their original spot.

Alan sighed tiredly and finally looked up.

Virgil sat back in his chair and regarded his younger brother with a smug smile.

"Man! You look like hell."

"Yeah well we were all up pretty late last night and incase you haven't noticed it isn't exactly late in the day." Alan laughed half-heartedly but at least he seemed more awake now.

"What do you mean 'we', the rest of us all went to bed at a reasonable hour 'you're' the one who wanted to stay up late and party!" Virgil shot back sarcastically though he wasn't attempting to irritate his baby brother at least not this early in the day.

Alan huffed in mild annoyance and went back to staring at the now empty glass in his hands.

"Hey Virg? Did you notice anything odd about TinTin last night?" He asked after a while.

Startled out of his thoughts by the sudden question Virgil attempted to recall the events of last night.

"No, she seemed ok to me though I didn't actually get to talk to her before she went to bed with that headache."

Alan frowned.

He had been thinking a lot about the conversation he'd had with TinTin the previous night and that something just didn't seem quite right. Even though TinTin had insisted that she was ok Alan couldn't help but notice the look of sadness that clouded her features while they were talking.

It had caused a bad feeling to stir in the pit of his stomach, which only grew in intensity the more he about it.

"Virg, when was the last time you spoke to TinTin?"

It was Virgil's turn to frown as he struggled to remember the last time he'd spoken to TinTin and as he thought about it his frown deepened.

Alan saw it and suddenly the bad feeling he'd been getting seemed small in comparison to the greater feeling of foreboding that began to make itself known.

"Now that you mention it I haven't really spoken to TinTin in a while. We've spoken in passing but not in conversation………weird."

"It's not weird Virg. I think it's deliberate."

Now Virgil was confused.

"What do you mean Alan?"

He didn't get an answer as Alan got up out of his chair and made his way from the kitchen leaving the empty glass on the table.

"Alan? Where are you going?"

But Alan was already out of the lounge and down the hall.

Sighing in frustration Virgil heaved himself out of his chair and followed in his brother's footsteps passing a puzzled Gordon on his way.

"Hey Virgil, what's going on?"

Virgil didn't answer instead he picked up the pace in order to catch his youngest brother.

He finally reached Alan outside TinTin's door. Alan had his ear pressed to the door and a look of concentration on his face.

"Alan! What's going on?" He demanded feeling slightly out of breath.

"Sshh!" Alan turned and hissed at him before turning back to listen through the door.

Throwing his hands up in defeat Virgil crossed his arms and settled himself against the wall next to the door his brother was listening through.

Gordon came strolling down hall to see what all the fuss was about and mirrored Virgil's posture by leaning against the wall on the other side of the door. Glancing at his older brother in askance Virgil just shrugged in response and continued to stare at Alan.

"That's called spying y'know." Gordon stated to his baby brother who continued to ignore their presence.

Sighing in frustration Alan took his ear away from the door and knocked on it gently.

"TinTin? Are you in there?" He called keeping close enough to the door to hear even the quietest response from the room inside.

There was no reply.

"TinTin! Are you in there!" He repeated louder but was still met with silence from inside the room.

Moving his hand to the door release Alan tried to open the door.

It was locked.

At this Virgil and Gordon stood up straight.

"That's strange. Why would she lock her door at this time of day?" Virgil asked curiously glancing at his watch, which told him it still wasn't even mid-day.

Suddenly Alan rounded on them, a determined expression on his face.

"Did ANYYONE see her at breakfast!" He asked almost angrily from his two stunned brothers.

"Uh…..no Alan. I don't think she came to breakfast. Not that it was a surprise Fermat didn't turn up either." Gordon stammered in response.

"I haven't seen her all day. Alan, what is it?" Virgil asked fiercely grabbing his youngest brother by the shoulder forcing Alan to look at him.

That Alan now looked unsettled was an understatement. Virgil noted that his younger brother seemed to be struggling to remain calm.

He and Gordon watched the array of emotions that crossed Alan's face while in his mind everything began click to into place.

He knew these signs.

TinTin's withdrawing from the family both hers and the Tracy's, the hiding away in her room all day and last night at the party, the strangely emotional conversation they had had just after he and Fermat had been dropped off by the jet.

The jet!

Realisation dawned which must have shown on his face because now Virgil and Gordon both looked as worried as he did but Alan didn't stop to explain.

"Gordon! Go get Brains we need to get this door open."

"What! Alan I know you're crazy but I never pegged you for suicidal. That's a girls bedroom, you don't break into a 'girls' bedroom."

"Gordon! She's NOT in there ok, now GO!"

Gordon looked about to protest further but an elbow in the ribs and a stern look from Virgil convinced that perhaps he should just do it.

Grumbling in annoyance Gordon went to get Brains who was most likely down in the lab.

Virgil watched him go before looking worriedly at Alan.

"Alan?"

Alan was staring at the locked door with a saddened expression and answered absently.

"Do you remember what happened three years ago? When I was having a tough time adjusting to the new school."

"Yeah. Dad got a phone call saying that you refused to take part in lessons and that you didn't talk to anyone. But you were ok in the end."

"Only because Dad asked Brains to send Fermat to the same school as me."

Virgil frowned. What did this have to do with TinTin?

"Virgil, did Dad tell you guys what happened before he asked Brains about Fermat switching schools?"

"He said that you tried to run away but you were picked up by the cops when the school reported you missing."

"Exactly! I ran away. Don't you see it?"

Now Virgil was really confused.

"See 'what' Alan?"

Alan sighed in exasperation. Sometimes he wondered whether his brothers were actually ever teenagers themselves.

"Think Virg! She hides away in her room, she doesn't talk to anyone. Any of this ringing any bells!"

Finally Virgil cottoned on to what Alan was talking about but it didn't seem to make much sense.

"Are you saying you think TinTin's run away? Alan that's ridiculous we live on an 'island' in the 'middle' of the Pacific Ocean." Virgil scoffed at his brother's seemingly idiotic idea.

But before Alan could reply Gordon returned with Brains in tow.

"Hi guys. What's wr…wro up?"

Brains was a little puzzled as to why they were all congregated outside TinTin's room but decided to wait for answers before jumping to conclusions.

Alan was just about to answer when Virgil beat him to it.

"Alan thinks TinTin has run away." He laughed and glanced skeptically at the locked door.

Gordon laughed and shook his head at his baby brother's wild imagination.

"I'm SERIOUS! Her door's locked but I don't think she's in there." Anger rising Alan willed himself to stay calm.

Brains watched the exchange quietly, refusing to get involved in the developing argument until it was necessary.

"HELLO Alan! We live on an Island!" Gordon stated sarcastically.

"That's just what I said." Virgil added.

Throwing his hands up in frustration at his brother's ignorance Alan moved next to the locked door and crossed his arms in defiance.

"Ok……….open it and prove me wrong."

Virgil took a deep breath to calm his nerves and looked at the bespectacled scientist.

"Well Brains. Care to do the honors?"

Brains looked from Virgil to Alan to the door.

"Are you su……sur…..su positive you've tried knocking?" He knew it was a stupid question of course they would have already tried knocking but he had to ask.

Alan dropped his arms back to his sides and stepped away from the door.

"Yes we tried and there was no answer." He replied calmly and gave the scientist the room he needed to work.

It only took a few minutes before they heard the click that signaled the unlocking of the door. Stepping back Brains hit the door release and door slid back with a soft hiss.

Alan didn't waste any time and pushed past Brains and into the room.

He stopped in the middle of the room and looked around.

The bed look like it hadn't been slept in and the door to the small bathroom was open reveling that it was empty.

Brains, Virgil and Gordon stepped into the room behind Alan who was turning in slow circles trying to find anything odd or unusual.

At first glance nothing appeared to be out of place but then something caught Alan's eye and he stopped mid-turn and walked slowly over to the closet.

It was open.

Grabbing the handle he pulled the door open fully and switched on the light inside.

Inside the closet was a mess, boxes and bags were strewn all over the place some of their contents spilled onto the floor as the door opened creating even more mess.

Gordon came up behind Alan and whistled at the state of the closet.

"Wow! TinTin doesn't tidy much, does she!"

"Neither do you." Alan commented under his breath and turned away from the mess to continue his search round TinTin's room.

His heart sank as he came to a stop at the dressing table. With a trembling hand he picked up the International Rescue pin and looked at it closely.

"Hey, take a look at this."

Alan, Virgil and Brains walked over to where Gordon was standing at the patio door that opened onto the balcony.

"What is it Gordon?" Asked Virgil.

"The door's open." Alan answered him absently and stepped out onto the balcony and taking a deep breath looked over the railing at the ground below.

The flowerbeds directly under the balcony were ruined. The flowers were squashed and soil was splayed over the neighboring flower beds.

Virgil looked over the railing next to Alan, Gordon doing the same on Alan's other side.

"We gotta tell Dad."

Virgil looked at his baby brother worriedly. Alan was tense and was gripping the railing so hard that his knuckles were turning white.

"How did she get off the island?" Virgil asked absently and looked back to see Brains standing just inside the patio door wearing a similar worried expression.

Alan turned around letting go of the railing to lean his back against it.

"The jet that brought me and Fermat back to the island. It was here for at least 20 minutes before Dad got the call from it asking permission to take off."

TBC

_Yay! Reviews! _


	6. Chapter 6 Journey's End

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Thunderbirds or X-Men in any way, shape or form.**_

GIFTED

_Like I said in the last chapter I know it's been a while but hopefully I can start updating more often but I'm struggling with this new upload method so please be patient _

_Also, if you are into Gundam Wing then please check out the first ever fanfic I wrote in that section. It's called Future's Past and is the first chapter of the first part of my first saga. Ya' know, I'm not even sure if I followed that _

_Enjoy!_

**Chapter 6 – Journey's End**

Rain.

TinTin had been New York City for three days now and it that time all it had done was rain. Although that alone was irritating the warmer weather of the fast approaching summer gave the big city an almost tropical feel and reminded her of Tracy Island.

Tracy Island. Home.

'I wonder what they are all doing right now.'

Of course she knew. They would all be franticly searching for her using every resource at their disposal but they wouldn't' find her. Of that she was certain as she had spent too much time and effort just to be found now.

Right now she was sat in the corner of a small coffee shop in Manhattan trying to figure out what to do next.

Taking another sip of her tea she gazed out the rain streaked window and watched as people went about their daily lives. A sea of umbrellas, briefcases and long trench coats pushing and shoving their way up and down the crowded streets and a bid to get home as was expected in the rush hour.

It was getting late and TinTin knew that she couldn't spend another night wondering the streets. She was tired and very much in need of rest and a decent meal.

Draining the cup she placed it back on the table and hefted her rucksack over her shoulder making her way to the door. Stopping in the doorway she sighed.

'Why didn't I pack an umbrella?'

Then with great reluctance she stepped out onto the street outside.

The rain was heavy and it wasn't long before TinTin was thoroughly soaked and struggling with the now waterlogged rucksack. She was pushed and pulled as she slowly made her way down the street to the nearest crossing. There wasn't much traffic on the streets where she was walking but many cars were making the most of this by traveling faster than the speed limit. More than once she was almost knocked over by the number of people on the sidewalk but she managed to keep her footing.

She ducked into an alley to get out of the crowded street and catch her breath. TinTin leaned back against the wall of the alley and let the rain run down her face for a moment.

She needed to reach a subway station but the nearest station was across the street and the nearest crosswalk was still a full block away.

Looking out beyond the busy sidewalk TinTin noticed that there weren't that many cars on the road.

Moving out of the alley and pushing past the swamp of pedestrians she stood on the edge of the sidewalk.

Taking her time she searched for an opening in the traffic waiting for the right moment to cross the street and then she saw it. A gap in the traffic just behind a yellow cab and as the cab zoomed by TinTin stepped carefully out into the road.

She was no more than a few meters away from the other side of the street when a silver car turned sharply out of a small side street and onto the road.

TinTin looked up at the sound a car horn and noticed the silver car heading towards her a speed. She froze. The driver slammed on the brakes but it was already too late.

TinTin couldn't move. She was paralyzed in fear as she watched the speeding car get closer the smell of burning rubber filled air as the driver tried desperately to stop the car.

Something snapped. TinTin couldn't explain it any other way. One minute she was standing there with her life flashing before her eyes and the next thing she knew the silver car was lifted up into the air by an unseen force and thrown thirty feet back down the road.

People were screaming and running scrambling desperately to get out of the way of the falling car, which landed on top of two yellow cabs. The drivers of the cars managed to pull themselves free quickly as the authorities and emergency services began to arrive.

TinTin was still standing there in the middle of the road breathing heavily.

'Oh no! Not this, not now!'

People were starting to point and stare in her direction and a paramedic was walking towards her flanked by to police officers.

Feelings of panic began to stir, which finally enabled her to move so grabbing the rucksack, which had fallen from her shoulder she dashed the rest of the way across the road and into the crowd of the people standing there. Out of sight.

Twenty feet away two women on a shopping trip saw her disappear into the crowded sidewalk. Neither of them were shocked at what they had just seen. Surprised but not shocked.

"Wow!" Exclaimed the red head as she rearranged the many bags in her hands.

"Did you do that?" Asked her white haired shopping partner.

"No I didn't." she replied worriedly.

The white haired African woman frowned and looked back at where she had last seen the eastern teenager.

"Come on…." The red head announced as she started pushing her way through the crowd. "……we've got to find her."

They had almost reached the end of the block when they caught a glimpse of the girl as she hurried down the steps of the subway station entrance. Following quickly they moved down the steps into the station and had just enough time to purchase two tickets before they lost sight of her again as ran down onto the platform.

Walking down onto the platform they saw her board a train and boarded it as well so then it was a simple task of finding the right car.

They finally located the girl in an empty car. She was sat in the corner with a big black rucksack beside. She didn't notice them.

Moving slowly down the car they stopped ten feet from huddled figure and made themselves known.

"Hi there, are you alright?" The redhead asked gently and wasn't surprised when the girl jumped. She had seemed to be deep in thought and was now looking slightly fearful as she watched the two strange women move closer.

They sat down opposite her and tried to appear relaxed to try and calm her. It only had a marginal effect.

"Who are you! What do you want!"

"It's alright, we're not going to hurt you. Are you ok? Were you hurt back there?" The white haired woman said carefully leaning forward and resting her elbows on her knees with her hands clasped in front of her.

"No, I'm ok but who are you?"

The redhead leaned forward coping her collegue and spoke quietly.

"My name is Jean Grey and this is Ororo Munroe. We're teachers at a school for gifted children and we want to help you."

The girl looked skeptical.

"No-one can help me."

"We can. If you'll give us a chance." Replied Ororo sincerely.

The girl still looked skeptical and appeared increasingly uncomfortable by their presence and that they were alone in an empty car of the train.

Jean smiled having picked up on the girls discomfort and the reason for it.

"Will you at least let us buy you dinner, you look like you could use a decent meal and we can talk more while we eat. How does that sound?"

Ororo smiled as well and at last the appeared to genuinely relax around them.

"Alright."

Ororo stood up and took a step away from the girl and her friend.

"Well if we want to find a good place to eat then it's about time we got off this train. But before we do…….."

The girl tensed in her seat.

"………how about you grace us with a name."

The girl uncurled herself and stood up picking her bag up as she stood.

"M…my name is TinTin." She said hesitantly glancing from one to the other.

Jean stood as well and laid a hand on TinTin's shoulder.

"We're very pleased to meet you TinTin and don't worry everything's going to be ok."

TinTin looked from the hand on her shoulder to the face of the person the hand belonged to and she suddenly had the strangest feeling that those words were true and that everything would be alright now.

TinTin smiled for the first time in days as she accompanied the two women off the train, out of the station and back out into the city of New York.

TBC

_Yay! We have contact!_ 

_Please read and review._


	7. Chapter 7 Fresh Start

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Thunderbirds or X-Men in any way, shape or form.**_

GIFTED

_Hi! Sorry it's been so long I've just been swept away by meaningless things. But I'm back now and to prove it here's a new chapter._

_**By the way:- **(denotes telepathic communication)_

**Chapter 7 – Fresh Start**

It was still raining as they exited the station.

They found a diner on a nearby corner and sat in a booth at the back of the dining area where they each ordered a main course, a dessert and a drink.

TinTin dug into her food with gusto, a sign of how hungry she really was, which surprised even TinTin herself.

Jean and Ororo were a little more reserved in their table manners but were understanding of their young friend's situation.

When TinTin had cleaned her plate and moved onto her cherry pie at a more polite pace Jean decided to get straight to the point.

"TinTin……….we would like you to attend the school that Ororo and I work at."

TinTin stopped eating and stared at them.

"But isn't your school a school for smart kids……em.…..I'm not sure that's me."

"Not smart……..special." Ororo replied carefully taking a sip of her coffee.

TinTin finished her dessert and pushed the plate to one side. She stared at the pair in confusion. "I'm not sure I understand."

Jean rested her arms on the table, her own cup between her hands.

"How long have you known TinTin?" she asked seriously and fix her steady gaze on the girl across the table.

TinTin suddenly looked nervous but she remained where she was.

"Known what?"

_(That you were special)_

Jean smiled knowingly as TinTin's eyes widened in shock which quickly turned into amazement. Glancing sideways she saw that Ororo was also smiling having realized what had just happened.

"How did you do that!" TinTin demanded turning back to the redhead in front of her who had somehow spoken to her without moving her lips.

Ororo grinned and leaning across the table pushed a chocolate milkshake in front of a still stunned TinTin.

"Oh come on! You didn't really think that you were the only one out there, did you!" she replied smoothly and with a touch of humour.

TinTin took a sip of the milkshake but her mind wasn't on the drink.

"And………..the school?" she asked cautiously though she already guessed the answer.

"Like I said 'special' not smart." Ororo answered taking another sip of her coffee before stopping a hovering waitress and asking for the bill.

"How about it TinTin, you can't stay on the streets forever. At some point you're going to have to figure out what you want to do with your life." Ororo continued after handing the money for the meal to the waitress who rushed off to get their receipt.

Jean looked around briefly to make sure they weren't overheard before leaning forward to whisper quietly.

"The school won't ask for any personal details you don't want them to know and you don't even have to tell them your real name if you don't want to. They can help you TinTin."

"How?"

"They can help you learn to control your powers so that you won't experience outbursts like you did today, they can teach you how to become a part of society like everybody else. You'll learn all the things you would learn in an ordinary high school alongside students just as special as you are."

"There are more like me?" TinTin couldn't imagine that there were other people in the world with such incredible and dangerous abilities as herself.

"Well, not exactly like you but you're certainly not the only one with special powers." Ororo said in a hushed voice as the waitress came back over and handed her the receipt and giving them the traditional 'Have A Nice Day!' New York style.

They sat in silence for a few minutes then Jean sighed and leaned back in her seat regarding TinTin with a sincere expression.

"We're not asking for a decision right away but will you at least come to the school, see what it has to offer and then think about it?"

TinTin sat quietly, staring down at the table deep in thought. The black rucksack that had been with her all the way from Tracy Island was tucked under the table and she wondered how much further it was going to accompany her before she found somewhere safe. These people were offering her someplace safe, a place where she could learn and be normal, away from her family.

Away from her family, she wondered how that would be.

Either way they were right she couldn't spend the rest of her life on the streets, she had to choose a direction for her life if she was to go anywhere at all.

Mind made she looked up at Jean, determination in her eyes all the while gripping one of the rucksack's straps tightly in her hand.

"Alright. I'll go and see this school."

TBC

_Hopefully sooner rather than later so I'll try my best but as always, REVIEWS! _

_What can I say they keep me sane._


	8. Chapter 8 Back To School

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Thunderbirds or X-Men in any way, shape or form.**_

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**GIFTED**

_Yes, I'm still here. I'm sorry if seems like I've dropped off the face of the Earth but it seems like I can't stop thinking up new ideas for stories. Of course the only problem is that it takes me forever to commit them to anything other than my imagination._

_I promise to try and focus on one thing at a time from now on._

**Chapter 8 – Back To School.**

The non-descript black car drove through the iron gates of the school they were there to see and continued up the drive to the main building.

The drive had been long and late in the night but TinTin didn't feel tired, she was hovering somewhere between fear and excitement about seeing this school and Jean and Ororo had done their best to answer all her questions but there were some they didn't, saying all would be explained when they arrived.

"Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters. Who's Xavier?" asked TinTin from the backseat as she gazed out the window of the car.

Ororo looked back at her from the passenger seat. "Professor Xavier is the man who founded and runs the school. He also teaches some of the classes like physics and literature."

"Oh."

The car came to a stop on the gravel drive outside the entrance to the main building and Jean and Ororo got out of the car, the latter helping TinTin pull her rucksack out of the trunk of the car.

Bag in hand TinTin gazed up at the building and she noticed that the school was more like a huge old mansion with a number of similar large buildings apparently housing different parts of the estate scattered about the one main house outside of which they had stopped.

Together they walked up the steps, through the great oak doors and into the foyer.

The foyer was empty as they entered and the doors closed with a 'clunk' behind them that echoed around the big wood paneled halls.

"Come on, the Professor can answer your questions better than we can." With that Jean started walking in the direction of the Professor's office, stopping when she realized that TinTin was still standing there in front of the door with her bag in her hand.

Ororo stepped in and grabbed hold of one of the rucksack straps.

"Go on. I'll take care of your bag." She said kindly and took TinTin's bag from her and headed down another corridor on the other side of the foyer.

TinTin hesitated for only a moment before following Jean down the hall to the Professor's office.

They passed a few of the students en route, all of which smiled at TinTin some even saying 'hello' or 'welcome' as they went by but before long they came to a paneled wooden door like all the others they had passed along the way.

Jean knocked once though TinTin got the impression that she didn't actually need to knock but was being polite because she was there.

A faint 'come in' was heard and Jean pushed open the door allowing TinTin to enter first before silently following her into the room closing behind them.

TinTin took a moment to look around the office. Like the rest of the mansion it was wood paneled with a variety of old looking paintings and small statues lining the walls. The furniture also appeared to be very old. There was a leather topped oak desk in the middle of the room with four heavy leather chairs in a semicircle in front of it. Bookcases were dotted around the room as were one or two side tables with potted plants and flowers resting on them.

The windows in the office were enormous so there was no lack of sunlight for the plants, and they were framed by rich forest green velvet curtains held back by gold tasseled ties.

Finally her eyes came to rest on the only other figure in the room besides them.

A bald man who appeared to be in his fifties and in the strangest looking wheelchair TinTin had ever seen wheeled out from behind the desk and came to a stop in front of her.

"Hello TinTin, we've been expecting you." He said smiling kindly and indicated that she should sit down in one of the leather chairs.

TinTin sat in a chair and Jean took the chair next to her with the Professor still in front of them.

TinTin remained silent.

"My name is Charles Xavier and I created this school to help others like me learn to live with what they are."

TinTin regarded him evenly. "An….and what are they?"

Xavier smiled and leaned back in his chair.

"Have you heard of mutants?"

TinTin thought for a moment. "I heard something about mutants in the news but where I lived I didn't really focus much on what was happening in the world." This was partially true but she wasn't about to betray her friends and family to these people.

"Do you know what they are?" Xavier was still relaxed and kept the questions simple and to the point.

"Not really, why?" TinTin asked in confusion. What did all this have to do with her?

"They are people with DNA like every other ordinary human being in the world, however there is a specific gene that when reaching puberty can be turned on and that is what causes mutation to take place and is closely associated with high levels of emotional stress. Now sometimes mutation is drastic and sometimes only mild but whatever the level these mutations cause an individual to develop extraordinary powers and abilities well beyond any normal human capabilities."

As the explanation went on TinTin's confusion cleared and she realized what this man was getting at.

Xavier noticed her expression change and smiled knowingly.

"Does any of this sound familiar?"

"Are you trying to tell me that I'm a mutant?!"

"I'm trying to tell you that you are not alone in the world."

TinTin slumped back in the chair and suddenly looked very tired. In the past week she had gone from happy, to sad, to frightened, to frustrated, to confused and then some. Now all she wanted more than anything in the world was to curl up in bed in a place where she knew she was safe, her home.

But she couldn't go home. She had made her choice and now she had to live with it.

The Professor could see how tired she was and smiled in sympathy.

"I know it is a lot to take in and I know you must be tired but please believe me when I say that you are safe here and if you don't want to stay then we will gladly take you wherever you want to go. All we ask is for you to give us the chance to prove that we can help you."

Jean touched TinTin's arm to get her attention. "Give it a week. Perhaps if you lived around others in a similar situation then things might not seem so bad and if you decide to stay you can start taking classes here too."

TinTin looked from Jean to the Professor to down at her hands, which she folded nervously in her lap. It seemed to take forever but when she finally looked back up she appeared a little relieved.

"Ok. I'll stay for a week and then decide if I want to stay for good."

Both Jean and Xavier smiled before Jean stood and moved to the door while the Professor wheeled himself back behind the desk.

TinTin stood up slowly and made to follow Jean to the door when at knock at said door startled her. Jean opened it to revel a girl about TinTin's age with slightly oriental features and wearing very large hoped earrings.

"Ah, Jubilee…this is TinTin. She's hopefully going to be joining us here at the school. TinTin, this is Jubilee, she's one of our older students." The Professor announced mildly.

"Jubilee would you please show TinTin to the girls dormitory, she's going to be staying with you and Rogue." He continued and smiled at the two girls before returning his attention to the paper work on the desk.

Jubilee grinned and turned to TinTin holding out her hand. "Pleased to meet you."

"Likewise." TinTin replied and cautiously shook the proffered hand.

"Well now that you're set I should be getting back to work. Goodnight girls." With that Jean left the room and started back down the corridor.

"Hey, your bag is already in the dorm so lets go and get you unpacked!" TinTin who had been paying more attention to Jean leaving was pulled back to the girl in front of her just in time to be all but dragged from the office and off down another corridor.

As they walked TinTin was once again struck by the sheer size of the place as they passed doors, small lounging areas and yet more corridors as Jubilee chatted absently next to her.

"So……where are you from? Do your parents know you're here?"

"Huh?" TinTin pulled herself back to focus on Jubilee. "Sorry, what did you say?"

Jubilee rolled her eyes. "I said…….where are you from and do your parents know you're here?"

"Oh! No, my parents don't know where I am."

"And……….where are you from?" Jubilee pressed as they reached the foyer where TinTin had arrived and climbed the huge staircase there.

"Nowhere." TinTin answered quietly keeping her eyes on the stairs as they climbed.

"We get a lot like that around here." Jubilee said with a hint of sadness in her normally cheerful voice.

Reaching the top of the stairs they continued on in respectful silence until finally stopping at a door near the end of a corridor, which ended at a large circular window that showed the darkened night sky outside.

Jubilee didn't bother knocking and strolled into the room ushering TinTin in after her.

The room was a reasonable size, more than enough room for three teenage girls anyway. There were two beds on one side of the room and another on the opposite wall with two wardrobes next to it. The far wall had two windows with a large chest of draws and two trunks underneath them. Unlike the rest of the mansion the room was painted in a soft yellow colour with dark oak bordering at the top and bottom of the walls. The natural floorboards were the same dark oak but a large, circular dark green rug covered a good part of the floor.

Looking around TinTin could tell that the two beds against one wall belonged to Jubilee and her roommate by the mess of the beds and the numerous posters and stickers stuck to walls around them. The lone bed on the other side of the room was clean and tidy in comparison with her rucksack propped up against it.

"Well……this is it!" Jubilee announced proudly and flopped down on her bed.

TinTin went over to her new bed and sat down and was about to attempt conversation with her new found roommate when there was a gentle knock on the door.

Jubilee propped herself up on her elbows and frowned at the door before answering.

"Come in."

The door opened to reveal a girl of about the same age as TinTin wearing jeans, a tight fitting dark-red t-shirt and gloves that went up to her elbows.

TinTin frowned at the girl's odd fashion sense.

The girl's hair was also strange. Two white streaks around the girl's face interrupted the otherwise completely natural brunette hair.

Jubilee was completely unfazed. "Why'd you knock?"

The girl quietly closed the door behind her before answering. "Because it's polite and we have a guest." She nodded to indicate TinTin.

"Oh."

She walked over to TinTin who still looked a little confused and held out her hand.

"Hi. Ah'm Rogue."

TinTin shook the proffered hand.

"Hello……..my name is TinTin." She said in a quiet voice.

Rogue smiled reassuringly.

"Welcome to mutant high."

TBC.

_Yes! Finally another chapter finished._

_Let me know what you think and please be gentle._


End file.
